When military terminology goes public

Abstract The article investigates the media-driven determinologization process of military terminology using a two-phase, corpus-assisted design: (1) analysis of Kazakh- and Russian-language online news reports (2019–2025), used to validate and classify the non-military senses that military terms acquire in public discourse; and (2) an experimental definition-task comparing the perception and interpretation of specifically selected military terms by students with and without military training backgrounds ( n = 40 and n = 33). We distinguish determinologization by counting a non-military interpretation as evidence only when it corresponds to a sense already attested for that term in the corpus. Responses were scored with a five-component semantic-decomposition rubric, with inter-rater reliability reported for both term classification (Cohen’s κ = 0.730) and response scoring (ICC = 0.97). Mann-Whitney U-tests indicate significant differences between the two focus groups for 13 of 20 military terms, with effect sizes aligning with training exposure. Experimental results and findings show consistent group asymmetries, with military-trained students favoring dictionary-fixed definitions for the terms and “civilian” specialty students privileging semantically broadened (determinologized) interpretations. Implications are suggested for programs training translation and interpreting specialists, media studies and journalism syllabuses, and media service personnel.